A developer and construction expert, Arch. Charles Maduka, yesterday said the video of the collapsed building depicted a free fall and an almost zero resistance to the force of gravity, making the integrity of the foundation suspicious.
A seven-storey building under construction located at the highbrow First Avenue, Banana Island, Ikoyi Lagos, collapsed on Wednesday with many people trapped under the rubble.
One body was later recovered on Friday while 25 people were rescued, according to authorities.
Lagos has been the epicentre of collapses over the years. A 21-one-storey building located at No 44 Gerard Road, Ikoyi, not far from the present site, collapsed in November 2021, killing over 40 site workers.
Maduka said Lagos, being a low-lying metropolitan city with flat topography and having many areas at or below sea level and an average elevation of 1.5m only above sea level, is a delicate place to site high-rise buildings and skyscrapers, but added that several buildings have been constructed and are still standing tall and strong in some parts of Lagos and other parts of the world.
He added, “The soil compositions, coastal characteristics, topography, microclimate, and unusual climatology make Lagos a delicate place to site a high-rise building without adequate professional know-how.
“The video of the collapsed building at First Avenue depicted a free fall and an almost zero resistance to the force of gravity. The wind effect may not be considerable because the building is surrounded by other buildings. The foundation is suspect.
“Is the Ikoyi area susceptible to ground movement that might have required seismic surveying and analysis? The big question is; was the foundation done by a foundation specialist or by the main contractor? Were the relevant quality control tests, such as the slump test, carried out during the process of concreting the structural elements of the building?”
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